Oakland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, September 19, 2013 Meeting

Attendees: Brian Toy, Chris Hwang, Chris Kidd, Daniel Schulman, Dave Campbell, Jason Patton, Jennifer Stanley, Midori

Tabata, Mike Jones, Robert Prinz, Ryan Chan, Tom Willging, Tony Dang, Jennifer Anderson, David Ralston,

Barry Bergman, Robin Freeman, Matthew Bomberg, Ann Killebrew, Christina Ferracane, Bruce Williams,

Wlad Wlassowsky, Ryan Price

San Leandro Creek Greenway Project The San Leandro Creek Alliance, a coalition of community groups, Rails 2 Trails, and Merritt College, gave a

presentation on the San Leandro Creek Greenway Project. They hope to connect Lake Chabot to San Leandro

Bay with a continuous multi-use path following the path of the San Leandro Creek. The coalition has been

working on this concept for a number of years already. The presentation they gave had the following

highlights:

A robust system of trails exists in the upper watershed of the San Leandro Creek, which could be

connected to the urban east bay through this project

Some pathways and bridges exist along San Leandro Creek in San Leandro, but they are often fenced

off from the creek and are not connected. The notable exception is the park downtown that has creek

access.

A large barrier exists where the railroad line crosses the creek in Oakland, currently forcing a detour

of over a mile.

Much of the creek (about 80%) has access or maintenance roads along them which are officially

closed to the public, but could be converted to multi-use trails with a suitable easement.

There are many concurrent restoration efforts taking place along the creek.

There are great Safe Route to School opportunities along the creek, especially in Oakland

The current Oakland Bicycle Master Plan only has a proposed trail along the creek from Hegenberger

Rd to 98th Ave, with nothing between 98th St and the Oakland border.

The alliance asked that the BPAC endorse adding a proposed pathway to both the Oakland Bicycle Master

Plan and the Oakland Pedestrian Master Plan along the entire length of the creek within the City of Oakland.

They also asked the BPAC endorse a statement urging City staff to work with the San Leandro Creek Alliance.

This proposed trail would either be incorporated into the next update of each respective plan or would need a

General Plan amendment. As the Oakland Bicycle Master Plan was updated this past winter, another update

is not required for 5 years.

A motion was introduced to add a proposed trail to the maps for the Bicycle Master Plan and Pedestrian

Master Plan. It was pointed out by staff that, due to the legal requirement for consistency in plans, such a

change would need to be run up to the General Plan level if it were to be done before the next Bicycle Master

Plan update.

After much discussion, an amendment was offered to the motion. The amended motion expressed support for

the San Leandro Creek Alliance and supported the idea of adding a proposed trail to the City’s Master Plans

along the creek within Oakland, but only in a general sense and without specific requests for staff. The

motion passed unanimously.

Safe Routes to Transit Grant Applications Staff provided updates on two Safe Routes to Transit grant applications, and asked for the endorsement of

BPAC to include in the application. One project is on College Avenue adjacent to the Rockridge BART

station, and the other project is around the Lake Merritt BART station.

The Rockridge BART projects will leverage funding from the Caldecott Tunnel mitigation settlement. Due to

cost-overruns, the settlement funding will not pay for all identified projects. This Safe Routes to Transit grant

will help complete two of the projects identified in the settlement that received lower priority, and would

otherwise might not get funded. For the purposes of Safe Routes to Transit, however, these are very high-

priority projects. The funding would pay for the re-design of the two intersections on College Avenue on

either side of the Rockridge BART station. The preliminary designs are for curb extensions and the closure of

a slip-lane right turn lane. BPAC members expressed interest in the designs incorporating robust bicycle

infrastructure in addition to the pedestrian infrastructure shown in the preliminary designs. Staff reassured

BPAC that, if the grant is won, the community input process on the project will be robust when refining the

design.

The Lake Merritt BART projects will identify key intersections within half a mile of the station for pedestrian

improvements, with an eye towards connecting the station area to the Jack London area across Interstate 880.

The hope is to get these intersections to 35% plans, which would make them eligible for future funding for

implementation. The intersections have not yet been identified. BPAC members also noted that upcoming

lane reductions for bicycle infrastructure will further improve the area and these should be taken into

consideration in the grant applications.

A motion was introduced to issue a letter of support for the projects. The motion was passed unanimously,

except for Dave Campbell who abstained due to a conflict of interest for EBBC on the project area.

Sustainable Communities Technical Assistance The Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) is providing technical assistance grants to cities in

helping them implement complete streets policies to meet the requirements of the One Bay Area Plan within

designated Priority Development Areas. The City of Oakland is submitting 6 applications for assistance:

implementing advanced bikeways treatments, streamlining the City CEQA process, developing a downtown

parking plan, developing equity criteria for projects, conducting a downtown circulation study, and

developing guidelines for a transit impact fee for development.

This was an information item on their plans for applications. BPAC members pointed out that the City is

applying for $2 million worth of projects in a $4 million pool provided by ACTC. As Oakland won the lion’s

share of OBAG grants in the previous round, it is unlikely all their applications will be funded. Therefore, the

BPAC expressed interest in bringing back this as an action item at a later meeting in order to vote on

prioritizing the applications.

19th Street Bike Station Update The City is still working out the details of the bikestation, though they have a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) signed between BART and the City and have secured City Council support of the

project. The City is prepared to seek funding for project. The space originally identified for the station,

however, has been rented out to another business. The City is currently looking at alternative options for the

bikestation.

California sidewalk bicycling laws This item was deferred to a future meeting due to lack of time.

Announcements CalBike looking for local host committee

The California Bicycle Coalition is hosting in Oakland their “California By Bike” summit from November 7-10.

CalBike is still looking for people to join the local host committee. The requirements for the committee are

low, and are centered around making introductions to local businesses and organizations who would be

willing to donate to the summit. The committee would also help organize a local bike ride during the summit

and assist in finding housing for summit attendees who are here on scholarship and cannot afford a hotel stay.

If you are interested in participating in the local host committee, contact Ryan Price at Ryan@calbike.org

Other Announcements

Robert Raburn announces the groundbreaking ceremony for the East Bay Greenway at Coliseum BART on

October 4, 10am, including a Bay Trail Ride;

Completion of the 40th St green super sharrows this coming Saturday;

Upgraded bike lane striping around Lakeshore Ave (including green bike lane segments) is forthcoming;

EBBC's fall members party Wednesday 9/25; and

WOBO at the Oakland Music Festival on 9/21.

Attachments:

Safe Routes to Transit grant handouts

Sustainable Communities grant handout